Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Today's Mass Readings

Once in eighth grade, I passed out, hit the back of my head on a desk, and had a seizure. I remember waking to a circle of my classmates above me with faces full of horror. I felt the back of my head thinking it must have been broken and bleeding but it was only a little sore. My dad rushed me to the doctor. Subsequently, I would go through a variety of tests. Nothing conclusive came out of it. It was just one of those things, the experts said – one of those things that happens to young people developing. It bothered my parents who just cared about my safety.

Back at school word got around to my teacher about what I was doing just before I passed out, hit my head on a desk, and had a seizure. What I was doing was this: holding my breath and tensing up my neck to make my face turn bright red. This was sophomoric behavior meant to show off to the guys and – ill-advised, but likely – to get girls’ attention. With the inconclusive tests, my teacher asked me if I had told my parents this pertinent fact. I had not – and so it would have remained had my mom not seen a livestreamed homily from a couple of years ago in which I recounted this… My folks deserved greater honor than that.

It is shocking to read the gospel of the Finding in the Temple and to consider that the boy Jesus would not tell his parents where He was. What nerve! Every good Jew knew the Ten Commandments. The first commandment on the second tablet is, “Thou shalt honor thy father and mother”—after God, our parents are due the greatest respect.

Mary and Joseph just cared about Jesus’ safety. And yet, we might also be shocked that Mary and Joseph were at all unaware of Jesus’ reason for staying: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Nonetheless, Christ returns to “The Hidden Years” in Nazareth where he was obedient to his mother and earthly father. Why? Because Sirach tells us that, “Whoever honors his father atones for sins. When he prays, he is heard.” These were the lessons formed in the domestic church that would prepare Him for his mission. One day Jesus would honor His father and mother by mounting the Cross for the salvation of the world. There, he atoned for all our sins; there, his prayer for victory over death was heard by His heavenly Father.

Jesus seems to have learned how to love Mary and Joseph out of His relationship with the Father. Most of us start to understand the unconditional love of the Father experiencing it first from our parents. Realizing in time that our parents are imperfect and still worthy of our love ought to point us to the perfect and loving God even more. There need not be a competition in love with God, as if it were a finite commodity. Indeed, the Holy Family reminds us that we are all always capable of greater honor to one another and to God. We want all good things for our family, but we should pray that what they gain is an eternal fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Share your joy of relationship with God with your family; do not wait to tell the truth.

Reflection Question: So many parents suffer from watching their children stray from the practice of the Faith. What are the concrete ways that you deliberately express your own relationship with the Lord Jesus so that your family, friends, and colleagues may have your witness?

Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB